12 die in huge Israel offensive

Israeli helicopters pounded the Rafah refugee camp with missiles and machine gun fire today, killing 12 Palestinians, at least seven of them armed, as troops searched houses in the largest Israeli offensive in Gaza in years.

Israeli helicopters pounded the Rafah refugee camp with missiles and machine gun fire today, killing 12 Palestinians, at least seven of them armed, as troops searched houses in the largest Israeli offensive in Gaza in years.

Trapped residents said they huddled in their homes. Others tried to flee to safer ground. At least 34 Palestinians were wounded.

Israel says it is targeting the Rafah refugee camp, on the border with Egypt, to destroy arms-smuggling tunnels and hunt Palestinian militants. Security officials said earlier this week that the army also plans to widen an Israeli patrol road between the camp and Egypt, which would involve demolishing rows of nearby houses.

The first phase of Israel's offensive today focused on the Tel Sultan neighbourhood of Rafah.

Bulldozers began tearing up a road to separate the neighbourhood from the rest of the camp, home to about 90,000 Palestinians, witnesses said.

Resident Mohammed Shaer, 39, said soldiers locked him, his wife and five children in one room as they searched the building. He said he heard heavy firing outside. Twelve Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire. A 13th man was killed while handling explosives.

At least seven of the dead were armed, hospital officials said. Israel's army chief, Lieut General Moshe Yaalon, said nine of those killed were militants.

At the start of the raid, a missile fired from a helicopter hit gunmen outside a mosque in Tel Sultan, killing three. Two more missiles were fired, killing three more people who rushed to help. The mosque caught fire.